Mamora Calls for Improved Access to Healthcare Delivery

The Minister of state for Health, Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora has called for improved access to healthcare delivery systems through robust social marketing and behavioural change communication to strengthen the health system of the nation. 

The minister made this call at the maiden edition of the Hallmark HMO Stakeholders Engagement in Lagos. It was on the theme, “Strengthening Health Systems to Improve Wellbeing”.

Represented by the CMD, Federal Medical Centre, Ebute Metta, Dr Ademola Dada, the senator highlighted that strengthening the healthcare system will ensure Nigerians imbibe the culture of accessing health facilities early in any disease condition for better outcome. 

He added: “People should be able to access the nearest Primary Healthcare Centre to get a determined minimum level of care.”

According to Mamora, this would over time improve the nation’s health indices and also enable the secondary and tertiary healthcare systems to receive referred patients from the primary level, and not overload these levels of care. 

Speaking also, the Chairman of Hallmark Health Services Limited, Mr. Eddie Efekoha appealed to the government and corporate organisations to invest more in strengthening healthcare systems.

Efekoha insisted that this move would enable Nigerians to have access to quality healthcare services.

“In strengthening the health systems, there is a need to look at various factors including the adequacy of health facilities, availability of adequate health equipment in the facilities, their accessibility by a generality of the Nigerians populace,” says the chairman. 

In her submission, the MD and CEO of Hallmark HMO, Mrs. Dotun Adeogun, said  they were poised to continue to support the established health systems to make access a reality.

Meanwhile, the Founder of Flying Doctors Healthcare Investment Company, Dr. Ola Brown, saw the need for stakeholders’ engagement at this time of election.  

“A lot of Nigerians,” she pointed out, “are getting more interested in what they can get out of the political process in terms of what different candidates stand for. 

“And that is one of the things Hallmark HMO is doing to ensure all Nigerians have healthcare that is accessible and acceptable and affordable healthcare”.

This, she continued, can be achieved by policies that crowds in private sector money into healthcare around taxation and levies that bring in funding to healthcare. 

Brown emphasised: “Our budget for healthcare from the federal level is about N1bn a year. The UK spends N250bn, and the US spends N1trn.”

Admitting that healthcare is expensive, she insisted that Nigeria got to do more with less. “We are never going to get the US budget. Then how do we get  what is usable and provides for all Nigerians.

Brown hinted: “We can get more money in two ways, skills and outsourcing medical skills. We have a huge brain-drain problem. Why not change that into a brain-drain opportunity?”

She further urged the government to make trade deals with countries that need doctors, adding, “Give them a certain number of doctors every year in exchange for a fee. Countries like Cuba and Philippines have done this. And it’s a source of income for them”. 

By Rebecca Ejifoma 

https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2022/05/19/mamora-calls-for-improved-access-to-healthcare-delivery/